Haruno’s breath caught quietly, as if she was taken by surprise. And then she erased her smile, asking a bit more coolly than before, “…Hey, why go that far, Hikigaya?”
I couldn’t answer her question instantly this time. Not because I was uncertain about it; I already had my answer. It was just after being asked similar questions so many times, I was a bit unsure of my choice of words. Beside me, Yuigahama was frozen, patiently listening.
So I decided to reply with my own sort of consistency—avoiding lies as much as possible, but also without contradicting the things I’d said before. “I’m service-minded…I suppose. I want to help. Do you need a reason to help another person?” I shamelessly declared, and the chair beside me rocked, telling me that Yuigahama’s shoulders had gone slack.
Haruno breathed a sharp aha, looking up at the ceiling. “You’re so funny.”
“If you’re gonna say so, then I wish you’d at least smile.”
Whether Haruno realized it herself or not, there was no warmth anywhere on her face. The levity in her voice was false.
When I pointed that out, Haruno grinned as if she’d just remembered to. “You say nothing but lies…and never the truth.”
“I mean, I don’t really have anything to say, never mind whether it’s the truth. And even if I did…” I swallowed the words that just about came out and said something else. “You aren’t the one I’d say it to.”
“…” For just the slightest instant, Haruno narrowed her eyes as if staring into the sun. But her smile never dropped, and she replied in a joking manner. “…Well, of course.” There was a chill to her voice, and the quiet sigh that followed it sounded dry, too. She must have been able to recognize that herself, as she reached for her hot glass and drank down its contents, now long cold. Wiping her lips with her finger, she collected herself. When her face came up again, she was fully smiling. “So that leak—I’ll handle it for you.”
“Thank you.”
Yuigahama and I offered little bows, and Haruno leaned her chin on her hand and started doing something on her phone. “But won’t it be difficult, if this is all you have?”
I wasn’t expecting her to say that; when she saw my confusion, Haruno broke into an unpleasant smirk. “All the elements are lined up, but normal reasoning won’t work on these people. Besides, the one you’re dealing with is our mom.”
“Ahhh…true…” Imagining the Yukinoshita sisters’ mother, Yuigahama and I shared a wry smile.
If those certain parents were to complain about the dummy prom, as planned, then we would be going through their mother again. As the one responsible for this among the students, I would be facing her. Remembering our exchange the other day, I honestly didn’t feel like I could win logically, or lyrically.
As I was groaning, wrinkles coming together between my eyes, Haruno yawned with disinterest and added, “But that part would work out depending on how you bring it up, I figure.” And then she muttered quietly, “…Since she wouldn’t really care about the prom itself.”
I didn’t really get what she meant by that, and I tilted my head at her, but it seemed Haruno wasn’t interested in elaborating, humming as she began scanning the drink menu.
“…Well, I’ll just do what I can,” I said.
“Mm, do your best.” She offered that halfhearted encouragement without even looking at me, and then we were out of things to say.
Considering the hour, it was the perfect moment to leave. When I asked Yuigahama silently, Should we get going? she nodded back at me.
“…Then we’re gonna head out,” I said. “Sorry for taking up your time.”
“Ah, thank you very much!” Yuigahama added.
“Uh-huh. See you.”
When we stood from our seats, Haruno gave us a little wave. From the way she was drawing the drink menu closer, it seemed she meant to hang around longer.
With one last bow, we left the café.
It wasn’t far to the station. On a weekday, it would have been close to the evening rush, but being a Saturday with no special events, there wasn’t much traffic or crowds.
When we reached the square in front of the station that also operated as a bus depot, I looked over at Yuigahama, wondering what we’d do next. She’d remained entirely silent since leaving the café, as if she’d had something on her mind the whole time. She noticed my worry and smiled weakly back at me.
Then her feet suddenly stopped, and she opened her mouth slowly. “…When Haruno said codependency earlier…what did she mean?” She was smiling like she was at a loss, but her tone was terribly serious.
I couldn’t even tease her, so instead I went to sit down on a nearby bench and search for the words. Holding her backpack in front of her chest, Yuigahama came to sit down next to me.
“It’s hard to explain… You basically get dependence, right?” I asked.
Yuigahama buried her face in the backpack in her lap, nodding. Smiling a little back at her, I continued—explaining things as simply as possible, omitting anything specialized and unimportant details.
“Basically, codependency is when the one who’s being depended on thinks of it as a good thing, I guess. They find their self-worth in being needed. It gives them a sense of satisfaction and peace of mind…and both of them become unable to escape from that.” As I was saying that, I realized my tone of voice was gradually getting lower. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed to fit, and the inside of my mouth tasted bitter.
That must have rung a bell with Yuigahama, too, as she bit the edge of her lip. “That’s…not a good thing, is it…?”
“Well, I suppose it’s not healthy,” I muttered.
—So it is a mistake after all.
Yuigahama’s expression turned somber, which made me feel bad. I bounded off the bench to shake it off. “…It’s not like everything she says is right. I mean you could see it that way.” So you don’t have to worry about it, I tried to tell her with a smile, albeit a rather lousy one.
At that, Yuigahama nodded with a slightly sad smile, standing up.
With neither of us particularly taking the lead, we started walking. When we came up to the ticket gates, Yuigahama daintily raised a hand. “Well, then I’m taking the train.”
“Yeah. Take care.”
“Uh-huh, see you at school… Night, Hikki.”
As Yuigahama watched me go with a small wave in front of her chest, I walked off.
After going a ways, I turned back to see she was still in front of the ticket gates, and when our eyes met, she gave me an extra-big wave. I raised my hand lightly in response, but it was so embarrassing that I rushed away from the station.
Now, with the night wind blowing, I hurried down the way home alone.
Now, everything I’d had planned for the day was done. I’d prepared as much as I could.
Now, I just had to bring it to an end.